


behold your certainty

by tvaine



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Shirbert, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 01:50:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15499641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tvaine/pseuds/tvaine
Summary: Writing an essay seemed exciting in Anne Shirley’s eyes. However, being accused of writing someone else’s were not exciting.A Soulmate AU where their handwriting matches their true loves handwriting.





	behold your certainty

It was more of a myth, or at least people thought. It certainly wasn't something you saw every day, not even as a teacher. Rarely you found soulmates within a class, seeing as most people have previously found their soulmates later in life. However, this must have been an exceptional case, because Miss Stacy found something very unusual within two of her students.

Even Anne had heard about the myth before - thinking it was a beautiful way for someone to find their soulmate. She had longed to see something such as miraculous herself once in a lifetime, but when it suddenly happens right in front of her, it doesn’t sound as wondrous and endlessly romantic as it should be.

“Here,” Miss Stacy said, handing out pieces of paper to her scholars. “This is going to be your very first essay. At least, I hope it's your first.”

Miss Stacy was right. Earlier, when Anne wrote an essay about gossip, she had asked Diana for some minor help. She didn't have much to offer as she never had written one before. The class had just learned about them and how to compose one, which didn't come as a shock to Anne as their previous teacher, Mr. Phillips, clearly wasn't fit for the teaching job. Thankfully, Anne already then knew how to write one and had aced that essay. She now had that advantage, and hopefully she could use it against Gilbert.

Miss Stacy started at the boys’ side, enlightening her students more about their first essay.

“I got my hands on some fine paper, just enough for everyone.”

Anne leaned over to Diana, gently putting her hand on her arm with the biggest smile on her face. “I’m so excited for this!” Anne squealed. Diana answered with a polite smile. Miss Stacy arrived at the two girls' desk and as she was handing Anne paper, she couldn’t help but count how many pieces of paper she got.

_One. Two. Three._

She furrowed her eyebrows, that couldn't be right. “Miss Stacy, I’m gonna need more than three pieces of paper.”

“I’m sorry, Anne. That’s all you get.”

“But I have ever so many words on the matter of electricity!”

Miss Stacy found it only fitting that their first essay was on something modernistic, like the first thing they studied together.

“Then I suppose you’re just gonna have to manage like the rest of the class.” Those were Miss Stacy’s last words on the trouble. She had always been fair to each and every one of her students, something Anne was grateful for. However, when it came to matters like this she wasn’t quite fond of it anymore.

Miss Stacy handed Diana the same amount of paper before she turned her back on them and continued handing out papers to the desk in front of the two girls.

“How can I write my true feelings on just...” Anne stopped, took a deep breath and sunk a bit in her seat before she continued. “Three paltry pieces of paper?”

Diana put a reassuring hand on Anne’s shoulder, paired with a slight smile. "Just write tiny letters."

Anne was about to respond, but their teacher, standing in front of the class again had taken word. "I expect that you'll all be thorough on this paper." She said. "There's no need to fill every inch of the papers, but I hope I've taught you everything you need to know about electricity to make me proud."

They had a due date of two days, but Anne wanted to get finished as soon as possible. When Anne made her way home that day, she was met by an ecstatic Jerry just in front of the barn. He claimed that he had, in fact, mastered how to write the letter W, and every word with W in it. He invited her up in the barn to see, but Anne politely declined before she stormed into the house.

"Anne!" Marilla exclaimed as she ran through the kitchen and stomped up the stairs, still with muddy shoes on.

"Sorry Marilla!" Anne yelled back with the biggest grin on her face. She took a quick grip on the door handle that lead into her room and pushed it down, swinging the door open. Her slate and books were quickly thrown onto her bed as she dragged her nightstand to stand more efficiently by the side of her bed.

"Anne!" Marilla tried again from downstairs. "Come downstairs and help me with supper!" Anne didn't quite catch that she might have needed help, so when she was on her way down the stairs, she apologized again.

"Now, take off those muddy shoes, come clean up and help me finish."

A bit later that evening, supper was finished. Matthew had been called in for food and at the table he had asked Anne how her day went. She always found it nice when Matthew, or even Marilla for that sake - asked her about her day. After all those years being in the orphanage, there was finally someone who genuinely engaged in her and what she did. She would always tell them anyway, no matter if they asked or not, but the thought of asking was so delightful and favorable in her mind.

So that was what Anne did, she told Matthew and Marilla everything they had done at school that day. Even the horrifying events of just getting three pieces of paper for an essay.

"Sometimes it's not about length, but quality." Marilla huffed as she was cleaning up the table from supper.

"Oh, don't I know, Marilla. It's just not fair when I have so much to say."

"Now, the paper won't do itself, Anne," Marilla said and gestured for Anne to hurry along upstairs.

The next day went quite the same. It was a normal school day where Anne stayed behind to ask Miss Stacy a few questions. Questions she'd love to answer, actually. She was too busy asking her teacher so many questions, that she didn't notice any other student hanging back in class as well.

"I know one or two things about coal if you'd like, Anne."

_Gilbert Blythe._ The very well-known voice of Gilbert Blythe. It even annoyed Anne how he said her name - teasingly, something she had come to terms with, as he rarely said it any other way. Still, it wasn't pleasing. She had just asked Miss Stacy about coal as a source of energy, and as she feared, he had to intervene.

Anne didn't want to accept his offer, mostly because she didn't need his help, but when Miss Stacy said she had some important errands to run before the evening, there wasn’t much else to say.

“Fine. Only because you were on a boat driven by coal for eight months,” she sighed.

"Best get to it then," Gilbert said whilst grabbing his slate and books before he wandered off to put his coat on. Anne was watching him by his every step. She asked Miss Stacy a simple question, and now she was put in this situation. And why did they have to go somewhere else, couldn't they just stay here?

"I'll see you both tomorrow!" Miss Stacy said, reaching for her coat and then seconds later disappearing behind a door. Anne sighed.

"Where shall the spirit move us today, Miss?" Gilbert asked just as they closed the school doors behind them. Anne was walking down the stairs when she said that they should go to her house.

"Probably for the best. Mary and Bash are clinging onto each other no matter who's near. They probably won't realize I'm gone," he chuckled. Anne couldn't help but to smile a bit herself. Imagine giving someone your love for eternity, promising to love them unconditionally. She wanted to experience that one day. A mutual feeling of admiration.

Jerry, who was up in the barn moving hay, suddenly heard a bit of laughter approaching. He shoved the pitchfork into a ball of hay and peeked out. In the distance, he could see Anne, but beside her was a young man. He wasn't quite sure who yet, but as they came closer to the gate, he could see that her company had dark hair - something almost every boy in Avonlea had, but the smile that was radiating from Anne meant that she wasn't with anyone but that Gilbert boy she never shut up about.

When Anne and Gilbert opened the front door and were met by Marilla, they both immediately had to reassure her that they were _just_ going to do some homework.

"Well, calm down and sit then," she huffed and gestured for them to sit down in the kitchen area before disappearing.

After what was maybe an hour they had been sitting, the two had not even shared a glance. Gilbert would tell Anne what he knew, and Anne would quickly scribble down on her piece of paper.

He rubbed his temple as his elbow leaned casually on the table. His gaze was fixated on a concentrated Anne who was intensely writing on one of her last pieces of paper. He didn't realize how fast she had been writing until she suddenly looked up at him. He tried to run his gaze quickly over at something else, but for Anne it was clear as a sunny summer day. He had been looking at her - staring actually, and the fact that his cheeks turned into a light pink just confirmed it all.

"Don't you too have something to write?" she asked.

"Yeah. No, I mean no," he stuttered. "I already finished."

Anne pursed her lips and nodded lightly before she gathered her papers and put them in a nice manner.

"Oh, I suppose we're done here then," she said, getting up from the table. If they started talking she would most likely end up laughing for some reason - then Marilla could think she didn’t take her assignment as serious as she had stated that it was the other day. Something she did. The assignment was important and very serious. They were now done, and Gilbert should get home to Bash and Mary. He wouldn't have wanted to stay anyway.

"I suppose." Gilbert looked down at the table as he started to gather his things as well.

When they both were finished packing up he paid his goodbyes to Marilla, grabbed his coat with one arm, and wrapped his scarf securely around his neck while Anne followed him out.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Anne said, clinging onto the door. She couldn't help but form a smile when the wind took a hold of Gilbert's scarf, flapping it in his face. He tried to put the ends of it down in his coat as he waved.

Anne watched him walk away, step by step. She couldn't wait to get back in and write the last part of her essay. She wanted a perfect finish, but somehow she couldn't find herself thinking clearly enough for a perfect end with Gilbert sitting there, staring at her. She just had to make sure Gilbert got safely past Jerry, and that they didn't throw in a french conversation, like Diana and him usually did, and then she could hurry back.

But all of a sudden, Gilbert turned around. He seemed unsure, but he opened his mouth, and said  with a smile tingling on his lips, "Hey, Anne! This was nice." Anne nodded with a weak smile.

"It was," she said. It was indeed nice, and she didn't dare to say otherwise. The best part of it was that she actually had learned something.

The next morning at school, Miss Stacy gathered all of the assignments with a bright smile on her face. She had already told the class that she was extremely excited to read all of their works.

Diana in particular, was also very excited for Miss Stacy to read her essay. After she had founded The Story Club with Anne and gotten a lot of good insight, she felt pretty confident about her own writing. Maybe not about this specific topic, since electricity wasn't that interesting in her eyes, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

"When do you think we will get them back?" Diana asked as Miss Stacy passed them.

"About a week, I hope."

And so, a week had gone by. To be honest, Anne had forgotten about the essay being handed out that day, so she used a lot of time on her way to school.

She picked lots of flowers from all over the forest, kindly paying apologies to every stick of flower she dragged up from the ground. "Tomorrow I shall make my fox a beautiful and radiant bed of flowers," she promised herself.

Her smile went from cheek to cheek as she arranged the flowers by colors and wandered between trees. She also promised herself not to throw away any flowers she had picked - even if they looked ever so unpleasant amidst the other beautiful colors. It kind of reminded her of herself. An unpleasant flower in the middle of a field full of other glorious flowers.

As she entered the school yard with flowers tucked in her straw hat, some in her hand, and some others tucked in-between her books she could see a waving Diana, about to walk into the school house with Josie, Tillie, Jane and Ruby. Anne ran towards them and was greeted with a big hug by Diana and some polite nods from the other girls, except Josie who just kept walking in.

"This reminds me of your first day," Diana said. "You had flowers in your hat then as well."

The girls chuckled and continued their walk into the school house, meeting face to face with the loud boys who was throwing different things across the room. Diana huffed and took a grip around Anne's wrist, leading her to their desk.

Miss Stacy eventually came in to the classroom as well. There was something unfamiliar with the way she walked, and the way she behaved. She put the papers on the teacher's desk, a frown on her face.

"I'm sorry to say that we have a conflict regarding someone's essays, whom the writers I need to have some words with," she said, crossing her arms.

The students sat still, arms on their desks, trying to figure out what their teacher was trying to say.

"When the day gets to an end I'd like to talk with the people who hasn't received any specific comment."

Everybody in the room kept a close eye on every student Miss Stacy handed out papers to. When the student who received it let out a sigh of relief - they knew those didn't lack any comments on their papers. When Anne received hers, she couldn't help but to check every inch of every paper for something. Sadly enough, she couldn't find anything, and Diana noticed too.

"I'll see you all next week!" Miss Stacy announced. Anne was quick to get up from her seat when everyone started packing up their things.

"I don't understand this," Anne said while walking towards her, the uneasiness in her voice too clear than what she wanted it to be. A body came up beside her. She could easily sense the figure of Gilbert just by his chilled posture and relatively average figure, plus his dark, curly hair that sprung out in every direction.

"I have enough evidence to believe that you, Anne Shirley, have done Gilbert's essay."

"I certainly have not! Gilbert, tell her."

Neither of the two students who were standing in front of Miss Stacy could see the girls and the boys standing outside of the school house, holding their hands up against their heads, shielding out light and trying to look in through the windows.

As Gilbert was just standing there, saying nothing — Anne could feel a cold dribble of sweat start to form down on her back, her dress sticking to it. Her left hand went up behind her neck, scratching it for a while before she had to breathe in and out a couple of times. It was something Matthew had taught her, steadying her breathing.

Her favorite teacher had just accused her of doing someone else's homework. It was bad. It was really bad in her eyes, but even though she looked at it as bad - she couldn't help but feel a bit of worry towards Gilbert. It must've felt horrifying to have someone accuse you for having someone else do their homework. Anne knew she would've felt awful at least.

"It was my fault, Miss Stacy," Gilbert apologized.

"You can't take blame for something we didn't even do, Gilbert!" Anne bursted out. Gilbert caught her by surprise, and for a minute she thought she might as well could just as well have been knocked out.

"Stop, you two. Here we have Anne, who wanted more paper, so she could write everything she wanted to say." Miss Stacy interrupted the two who had just turned to face each other and started raising their voices. "Then, Gilbert helps you, and suddenly I have two essays in almost two completely different fields, still with the same handwriting! A handwriting I recognize as yours from your last essay, may I add!"

Miss Stacy was looking mostly at Anne by now, who was trying to defend herself, with little help from Gilbert. "You can't possibly believe I could do a such thing!"

First of all, Anne hated to be humiliated, but secondly, and one of the most important things of all - she hated to be accused of things she didn't do. It happened often, too often. However, she didn't quite know how to handle those situations. As she turned around, grabbed her books and slate, she stumbled out to where she usually hung her coat, yanked it from the hook and hurriedly swung it around herself. She took a firm grip on her hat and placed it on her head, holding onto it as she trod her way out of the school house. At this point she didn't care if she lost some beautiful flowers along the way. She just wanted to get away from humiliation and lies.

She marched (with difficulty, as the grass seemed to have shot up over the past few weeks), through the field, taking a shortcut. She wanted to go straight home and tell Marilla and Matthew about this outrage. Miss Stacy, a kindred spirit, should've known better than thinking such a thing.

What Anne did not know, somehow, was that Gilbert stayed behind to talk things through with their teacher. He apologized for saying an abrupt thing, like it was his fault - something it wasn't, because they hadn't been near each other's essays, and Gilbert had finished his before he offered to help Anne.

He tried to persuade Miss Stacy into believing that this was completely coincidental, and that he had no idea why she would think their handwriting was alike, identical, indistinguishable or whatever she thought.

And maybe, just maybe she had seen something like it before — but it possibly couldn't be. She felt a stick of deja vu as she showed Gilbert both of their works side by side. Miss Stacy told Gilbert about that one time, years and years ago when she, herself went to school and the same thing had happened. The exact same thing, and how she maybe should have caught onto it before it got this far, because after all they might have been better off without knowing.

She just had a difficulty with using the right words to Gilbert, as he was standing there, both of his arms leaning on the teacher's desk. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he couldn't exactly comprehend any of Miss Stacy's words. Neither could he believe them. They sounded absurd.

"There was a couple in my old class." She started. "It was years and years ago, and they were in this exact position you and Anne are in right now."

Gilbert was now standing up, facing Miss Stacy again, his eyebrows still furrowed and there was still a red line missing in-between all of this.

"It's rare, at least not often you see them together in the same class when they're so young. You know, since almost everyone goes on and meets other people when leaving for further education."

"I'm still not sure where you are going with this, Miss," Gilbert said, mirroring Anne's earlier actions, scratching his neck, taking a few deep breaths.

"I believe it's almost extraordinary, phenomenal almost," she continued, "Soulmates have the same handwriting."

"Gilbert Blythe-" she spat, as if a bug flew into her mouth. Anne was clearly annoyed by everything that had happened. "- made Miss Stacy think I, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, wrote his essay."

Well, that wasn't exactly true, but it certainly wasn't a lie either. It was Miss Stacy who thought so — at first. Then Gilbert had contributed to the thought. It always seemed to be Gilbert's fault, or too often anyway.

The day Anne had come home after this event, she wasn't even hungry. She went straight up in the barn and laid down with a good book in her hands. It was somewhat comforting.

On Saturday, she snuck down the stairs, again with a good book in her hands. Only, that day she was caught by Jerry who once again, had to move hay.

"Surprising, seeing you here. Of course!" she had uttered, then walked away.

On Sunday, she tried the same, only this time she was caught by Matthew who also actually tried to catch her. He made her a big breakfast, and even Marilla was shocked by the sight. She had no idea her brother could make such a great meal. "Matthew! What do you think you're doing?" She had yelled when she saw him, cracking Anne's egg.

On Monday morning, she met Diana on their way to school. Anne told her everything about the outrage, and Diana only said she knew, and that also the whole school knew. She had to prepare herself for the ugly looks, mostly from Josie, but also Tillie and Jane as they never really knew where they should stand when it came to matters like these. The two girls had no idea where Ruby would stand, as it was something between Anne and Gilbert — and mostly, about a romantic myth. Josie would most likely drag her onto her side, and tell Anne how horrible of a friend she was.

Something that proved to be right. The minute Anne stepped into the school house, the girls had given her the look.

The day went somehow quite fast for Anne, without even looking the slightest at Gilbert Blythe, or not much at Miss Stacy either. She really thought she would pick it up again today, but as she hadn't heard anything regarding it yet. Miss Stacy would probably wait until the end of the day.

After all, it was an incredibly serious matter, and Anne needed her teacher to know the truth. She just didn't know how she would tell it.

_I'm sorry for running out on you, Miss Stacy. I know I’m not very good at handling situations, but I consider you a kindred spirit, and would therefore never lie to you. Ever. I think you're an exquisite teacher, but you might have it all wrong, no matter what you believe from what Gilbert have been saying._

As the end of the day caught onto them, Anne was ready. She told Diana to just go ahead without her as she needed to speak with Miss Stacy. Diana offered her the best of luck, and gave her a strong hug.

"Anne, could I have a word?" Miss Stacy asked, walking ever so casually towards Anne who was putting her books perfectly on top of her slate, about to bind them in.

Anne looked up, and could see Gilbert also walking towards her. "I- I don't want more lies," she stuttered. She had a tendency to stutter when nervous. She even had a little speech to say, but she wouldn't dare say it with Gilbert anywhere near them.

"Anne. I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have said anything. It just slipped out."

"Slipped alright," she mumbled, earning a furrowed eyebrow from Gilbert.

Miss Stacy couldn't bear to hear them start an argument again, so something that really slipped out then was, "You're soulmates." Something that sounded stubborn, weird, scary, confusing — but mostly, immature.

Deep, real deep down Anne wanted to believe in soulmates. It would give her hope. Characters in books found their soulmates — but they were just made up stories as would Marilla say. However, that was just what Anne wanted her exceptional love story to be. Something so beautiful and unbelievable that people thought it was just a made up story. Something unreal.

Anne let Miss Stacy continue talking about the so-called soulmate significance, sending some glares to Gilbert ever so often.

"I should go," Anne said, picking up her things, throwing once again on her coat and hat before trotting out of the school house. It had become too much of a regular thing to do, but when else to do it? It seemed dramatic — running out of her own soulmate story just then.

That wasn't exactly what she did. She needed to get back home. How had she never realized? Long ago, she had gotten a note from Gilbert once in class, asking for equations.. She kept it in a box, under her bed. Hidden from the immediate eye.

As she arrived at Green Gables, she ran inside, up the stairs and fell down on the floor just beside her bed. Her arm reached under, trying to locate the very small box of hers, but it was nowhere to be found.

She got up again, leapt over the bed and fell down again. She shoved her arm straight under, and there it was. The box. She wasn't sure why she kept it, and especially not why she kept it under the bed , yet there it was.

Anne got up, sat down on her bed and found a piece of leftover paper and an ink pen. She wrote the exact thing Gilbert had written, and there it was. Right before her eyes. It was unbelievable.

Everything was shaped the same. Every messy curl here and there were identical, the lines and every curve scattered over the note.

On his way home, Gilbert couldn't think of anything less than Anne. She truly must have been freaked out by all this. Everyone knew how much she valued her own future love story, a true romance.

He wasn’t even quite sure if he believed in such a thing himself. It seemed weird and was most likely just a coincidence. Maybe they had held their pencils alike, or the pressure and angle of their arms had been the same.

“Gilbert!” a familiar voice shouted as he was about to open the front-door to his house.

He turned around and was met by Bash, with an axe in hand. He had most likely been out back, chopping wood as winter was soon to barge in on them. Last winter when Bash arrived in Avonlea, he had used all of their wood, keeping the furnace hot every second of the day, (and night for that matter.)

“How did it go?” he asked. “With Anne.”

“She ran out while Miss Stacy was explaining _things_ ,” Gilbert said with some pressure on the last word as he pushed open the front door. He was immediately met by a gush of warmth,realizing Bash already had started to fire up the furnace for this year.

“You can’t let this man burn us to death,” Gilbert said with a light chuckle, walking into the kitchen. Mary was standing in front of the stove. From the smell that surrounded the house he could only predict that she was making stew for supper.

“How did it go with Anne?” she asked, earning a simple huff from Gilbert who sat down at the table, taking off his outer clothing.

"I need to change my handwriting," Gilbert said, pulling out some paper and an ink pen from his shoulder bag.

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert couldn’t possibly be his soulmate.

_Anne Shirley-Cuthbert-Blythe._

_Anne Shirley-Blythe._

_Anne Cuthbert-Blythe._

_Anne Blythe._

It did, however, have a nice ring to it.

“Weren’t you supposed to change your handwriting?” Bash said, leaning over Gilbert’s shoulder. “Because I only see a lot of name combinations on that piece of paper with the exact same handwriting.”

Gilbert’s head shot up when he realized what Bash had just said. His ink pen slipped through his fingers and hit the table as Bash chuckled.

He had no idea how to respond to that, and as his mouth was thinking faster than his brain he blurted out one of the stupidest sentences till this day, “It’s for science.”

But also, in his defense it did look even nicer on paper than just in his head.

“Sure, _loverboy_ ,” he said.

At Green Gables, however, the atmosphere wasn’t nowhere the same. Anne had gone straight up to Jerry in the barn.

“I have delicate news, but first I wanna say that I am sorry for being rude to you and walking past you the other day. I also snapped at you something that wasn’t fair,” Anne started saying as she climbed up the ladder that lead to the top part of the barn where she could hear Jerry sing to himself.

When she had gotten to the top part and now stood safely, she continued. “I would love to see the letter W and every possible word you could form with it!”

Jerry’s smile got bigger, his teeth sticking out while he nodded. He lead the way to their little “teaching-corner”, as Jerry would call it. He picked up his slate and started off by showing off the letter W.

“Have you ever heard of a such thing as soulmates?” she asked. Honestly, she didn’t expect a serious answer, or one at all.  But, weirdly enough, she got one.

“I think some people are lucky enough and have one out there,” he said, concentrating on his slate and the word he was currently writing. He turned his slate towards Anne and revealed the word _jewelry_.

“That’s impressive, Jerry!” she responded. “Gilbert, is supposedly mine.”

“Your what?”

“My _soulmate_ ,” she said, as if it was something she could just brush off, when in reality her stomach had dropped multiple times that day. Every time someone said the word soulmate.

“Gilbert, the boy we met in Charlottetown? The boy you brought home with you the other day?” Anne was surprised by the tone of his voice. It didn’t sound pleasant, yet it wasn’t angry either. He sounded doubtful.

She wasn’t quite sure if she could even think clearly anymore, because - needless to say - Gilbert Blythe could never in a million years be her soulmate.

Anne slumped down in a bunch of hay, grabbing one of the books she had left here for Jerry to read whenever he wanted. She flipped open the book and started reading as Jerry continued moving hay and singing in French.

As the dark sky approached, Anne thought it was time to get back inside. Jerry had left not very long ago, but now it was hard for Anne to see the letters in her books - even with a lamp by her side.

She got up from the hay, using her free hand to brush off the hay that had stuck to her dress. She gently put down the book by Jerry’s teaching corner and took a quick look at his slate. He had scattered words with W all over, not leaving any open spots. Anne couldn’t help but to chuckle. Jerry was really trying, and she liked that he was determined. She couldn’t wait till he could read flawlessly so they could sit up in the barn and read and share their thoughts with each other.

Just as Anne was climbing down the ladder and walking out of the barn, she could see a rather lean figure approaching. She waited until he came closer before saying anything.

“Who’s that?” she said loud and clear.

“It’s me, um, Gilbert,” he answered. When he came close enough he stopped right before Anne. It was hard to see in the dark, but something she could see clear as a day was that little smirk of his.

“Why are you here so late, shouldn’t you be home with Mary and Bash?” she asked.

“Look, I tried changing my handwriting,” he said, getting to the point right away. “It didn’t work out well.”

“Oh,” Anne nodded bleakly. She wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this, but she kept nodding until he decided to keep talking.

“I’m sorry we’re stuck with this burden, or what you would like to call it.” Gilbert’s smirk wasn’t anywhere to be seen anymore, but rather a serious face had come.

“It’s not a burden, truly. Rather, it’s a destination,” Anne reassured him. Gilbert was her friend, whether she liked to admit it or not - it just wasn’t that easy looking at him in a romantic way, but perhaps one day.

She spent most of her childhood wanting a soulmate love-story, and suddenly as it was standing right in front of her she quickly changed her mind. She was in a good place with Gilbert - and wouldn’t miss out being his friend for the world. He was one of the greatest guys she knew, he was truly exceptional.

Anne saw a smile on Gilbert lips, and so she took a step closer, breaking the distance between them. Her arms went around his neck as she pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer, gently running his hand up and down her back.

" _I do not want the constellations any nearer,_

_I know they are very well where they are_ ," he said, quoting his father’s favorite poem.

She caught on quickly - he didn’t desire to be any closer to her than he already was, because everything was fine the way it was, and Anne agreed. Destiny may take them even closer one day, but for now, it was best they kept it one way. As friends. However, no matter what happened, Gilbert would wait for her, that was certain.

And in a way, Anne was glad that Gilbert had been her chosen one. She didn’t know anyone who was smarter or more ambitious than him. With Gilbert by her side, and Anne by Gilbert’s side, they both knew they could make it far in life. They would make an amazing team.

Anne felt a flutter in her stomach just thinking about it, and a big smile formed on her face. She sunk a bit and landed her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat. Them, standing there, holding each other for a long while felt warm on a cold night mid-fall.

And all of a sudden, Anne realized that she didn't need a knight in shining armor when she had a prince. _Maybe they could make a great love-story after all._


End file.
